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The Anglican Reformed Catholic Church (ARCC) is a modern Anglican ecclesiastical body that seeks to uphold what it describes as the historic balance of being both Reformed, Catholic, and Anglican.

According to its statements, the ARCC understands Anglicanism as a continuation of the ancient Christian Church that was reformed during the 16th-century English Reformation while retaining many elements of historic catholic faith and practice.

The church emphasizes biblical authority, apostolic continuity, traditional liturgical worship, and orthodox Christian doctrine.

The ARCC presents itself as a home for Anglicans who desire clear standards, ecclesiastical accountability, and continuity with the broader historic Christian tradition. It strongly identifies with the ancient creeds, sacramental worship, and episcopal governance that have historically characterized Anglican Christianity.

The ARCC's theological origins are rooted in the English Reformation of the 16th century. The church holds that the Church of England emerged after separating from papal authority while retaining much of the ancient Church's structure, liturgy, and sacramental life. The ARCC describes this inheritance as "Reformed Catholic," meaning it is both faithful to the biblical reforms of the Protestant Reformation and connected to the historic catholic tradition of Christianity.

As an institutional body, the Anglican Reformed Catholic Church is a recent denomination. Public reports indicate it was organized in 2025 after the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy (JAFC) left the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). This development occurred amid ecclesiastical disputes within ACNA. The new church was incorporated in Alabama and initially organized around multiple diocesan jurisdictions. Bishop Derek Jones became one of the denomination's principal founders and leaders.

The creation of the ARCC was presented by its founders not as an abandonment of Anglican identity, but as an effort to preserve historic Anglican beliefs, worship, and governance within a new organizational framework.

The ARCC's historical narrative is closely tied to its understanding of Anglicanism itself. The church teaches that Anglican Christianity arose from efforts to reform the medieval Church according to Scripture while preserving apostolic ministry, catholic creeds, and sacramental worship. This theological heritage underpins the ARCC's identity.

After forming in 2025, the church organized into regional dioceses and expanded its parochial and chaplaincy ministries. Its public statements emphasize restoring confidence in orthodox Anglican doctrine and strengthening accountable church governance. The ARCC also expresses concern for the future of worldwide Anglicanism and desires a renewed commitment to biblical orthodoxy within the broader Anglican tradition.

Because the denomination is very young, its institutional history remains limited compared with older Anglican bodies such as the Church of England, the Episcopal Church, or the Anglican Catholic Church. Nevertheless, it sees itself as part of a much longer tradition stretching back through the English Reformation and ultimately to the apostolic Church.

The Anglican Reformed Catholic Church follows an episcopal form of church government, meaning that authority is exercised through bishops, clergy, and church councils. This structure reflects Anglicanism's historic polity and is seen as a continuation of the ancient church's system of governance.

The church currently organizes itself into several diocesan jurisdictions, including the Anglican Diocese of Saint Andrew (Western States), the Anglican Diocese of Saint Martin Tours (Eastern States), the Anglican Diocese of Saint Simon or Cyrene, and the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy.

Each diocese is overseen by bishops and senior clergy who provide spiritual leadership, pastoral oversight, and administrative governance. The ARCC also highlights a commitment to conciliar governance, reflecting the Anglican principle that church leadership should operate through collaboration among bishops, clergy, and laity rather than through centralized authority in a single church office.

The ARCC's doctrinal position may be summarized as Orthodox, Anglican, Reformed, and Catholic.

The church places primary authority in the Holy Scriptures and embraces the classical creeds of Christianity, including the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed.

The church maintains the historic episcopate and teaches that bishops, priests, and deacons serve within an apostolic ministry handed down throughout Christian history, an emphasis characteristic of traditional Anglican ecclesiology.

The church rejects the idea that Anglicanism is merely another Protestant denomination, arguing that it is a reformed expressioin of the catholic Christian tradition.

 

 

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